A century ago, in the spring of 1916, the Angel of Peace appeared for the first time to three small children in Fatima, Portugal. The angel appeared two more times, preparing the children for six visits of the Blessed Mother in 1917. In the years following, the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima would not only be approved by the local bishop, but would be embraced and promoted by numerous popes. Among the greatest champions was Pope St. John Paul II, who attributed his surviving a 1981 assassination attempt to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima.